Before We Begin

There are several deliverables that you must complete before our course begins. You will find them below. Please complete them at least 48 hours before our course launches.

Your syllabus will identify which communications platform, either Slack or Teams, will be used to support your course. Please join the platform identified in your syllabus.

Slack

Please complete this section if your syllabus identifies Slack as our primary communications platform. If you have any questions about Slack please visit their support page.

If you are unfamiliar with Slack, it is a messaging app that a team uses to work together, share files and discuss issues related to the project. It also connects with other tools we already use, like Dropbox, OneDrive, and a variety of Google platforms. We have all experienced lost emails, misplaced documents and other organizational disruptions when using email to support a team working on a project. Having everything in one place helps us to work together, rather than jumping around between emails, IMs, texts and a bunch of other programs. Everything you share in Slack is automatically indexed and archived, creating a searchable archive of all of our work. I have used Slack to support communications (text, audio, video, file sharing, etc.) in all of my courses and have learned that it is a terrific communication tool that helps everyone be more productive.

Your course syllabus includes the information necessary to signup for Slack including the Slack team name that we will use for our course. You must use your SHU email (firstname.lastname@student.shu.edu) to complete the signup process. Please use your full name, e.g., @firstname.lastname, as your screen name when you create your Slack profile and join the course team. Do not use your SHU short name or some variation thereof. Be sure to complete your profile by adding all of the required information including name, mobile#, email address, Skype userid and a recent head shot (photo). I strongly recommend that you enable two-factor authentication when you set up your Slack profile. When your Slack profile is confirmed, please visit our team site and poke around a bit. Also, please post your responses to the Introductions and Learning Contract channels.

Please complete the following steps in Slack no later than 48 hours before our class begins:

Fill out your profile and be sure to include your full name, mobile#, Skype UID, your role and upload a photo that is easily recognizable as you.

Download the apps for desktop and mobile for a much better experience. When you have installed the apps please leave them active on your desktops (as you do with Outlook) so that you will receive the alerts. If you have general questions about Slack, their Help Center is a great resource.

If you’ve never used Slack before, visit the video guides page and watch the “What is Slack?” video at the top.

using channels (2:32) … check out the channel’s purpose and add your comments,

using search (2:45) … search for a message using modifiers (type “+” in the search bar to see the full list).

Finally, you can access Slack from any browser (mobile or desktop) and via the Slack apps for either type of device. Please download and install the Slack apps to your Mac, PC and mobile devices (iOS and Android versions are available) before we meet for our first class. You will need to keep your Slack access live on all of your devices so that we can fully integrate the platform into our learning environment.

If you have questions, please post them in the appropriate channel in Slack. Someone on the team will point you to the answer.

You can access Teams from a desktop browser. Since Internet Explorer does not play well with Blackboard, or this site, I suggest that you use either Firefox, Chrome or Safari as your browser for all of your coursework. You will access Teams, part of the Office365 suite, login to PirateNet by entering your <shortname>@shu.edu for the username (i.e., doejohn@shu.edu) and your current SHU network password.

Click Outlook …

Click apps access …

Click Teams …

Download the the Teams desktop client by clicking “Download” in the upper left corner of your browser …

Please download and install the the Teams mobile apps that are available in the App Store appropriate to your device. Be sure to install the Teams apps to your Mac, PC and mobile devices before our course launches. You will need to keep your Teams access live on all of your devices so that we can fully integrate the platform into our learning environment.

Please install and test Teams no later than 48 hours before we our course launches.

Introduce yourself

Complete this deliverable by posting to the Introductions channel in Slack.

Introduce yourself to your classmates in the Introductions channel in Slack. In your post, please address the following topics or anything about yourself that you would like to share with the class so that we can get to know you better.

What degree and concentration are you pursuing?

When do anticipate completing your degree?

What are your professional affiliation(s)?

Hobbies and interests?

Post your Introduction to Slack/Teams no later than 48 hours before we begin.

Learning Contract

Complete this deliverable by posting to the Learning Contract channel in Slack.

Please read through the materials included in this site including your course syllabus, my Course Policies and the Plagiarism page. Once you have completed your review, post in the Learning Contract channel in Slack that you have reviewed and understand the Course Policies, including the plagiarism policy, your course’s requirements and your agreement to act in accord with those policies and requirements while enrolled in our course.

Post your agreement to the terms of the Learning Contract in Slack/Teams no later than 48 hours before we begin.

Media Test

You will work with a variety of different file types while working in our course. Please test the files below to view a sample video (with sound) and open a .PDF file.